A problem in tobacco industry systems operation is efficient and effective filling and emptying transport channels. Transport channels for the mass flow of products such as cigarettes, filter rods, cigars or cigarillos are often very extensive and, additionally, they run in different directions, also vertically, above work stations and transport routes for operators using the said stations. Filling the channels with and emptying them of the rod-shaped articles is troublesome due to the need to maintain the articles tightly in the channel in the area of the beginning and the end of the flow of articles and prevent the articles from spilling in the conveyor.
Usually the practice is to support the beginning and end of the mass flow in a tobacco industry system by means of a spongy element. Also, it is required to clean the transport channels each time before the change of brand of the manufactured products. The introduction of this operation is necessary from the manufacturing process viewpoint, since all products from the preceding production need to be removed.
A standard solution of the prior art is to stop the production system, manually or automatically introduce into the system's channel a multi-segment device made of, for instance, sponge, which fills the channel in its cross-section, and then start the system while keeping visual track of the device along it. Subsequently, the system is stopped once again and the device is removed at its other end or in the receiving station.
A drawback of this prior art solution becomes evident during the filling of vertical channels or those of a complex shape. Multi-segment devices either get stuck when going through sharp bends of a transport channel, slide down in the vertical channels where a channel gets wider and the device loses support from one of the walls, do not ensure proper tightness of the channel in its cross-section, which causes coming out of the rod-shaped articles above the device and filling up of the channel with unwanted material, or fall down when passing through horizontal curves.
Prior art already includes multi-segment devices used in the transport channels of communication routes which transport rod-shaped articles.
From the international patent application WO 2011/136670, a multi-segment device made entirely of an elastic material is known. This device is introduced into and removed from the channel by means of an automatic docking station. A drawback of such a solution are longitudinal and transverse movements relative to the conveyor.
In the European patent application EP 1 712 141 A2, a cleaning device has been described which is made of connected links made of a material with the same physical properties which is send through transport channels. The device's design makes it possible to send it through the channels at an angle of 90° whereby the cleaning and guiding elements are made of dimensionally stable and elastic plastic foam. A drawback of such a solution are longitudinal and transverse movements relative to the conveyor.
In the U.S. Pat. No. 5,316,122, a slide has been described which is guided in the transport channels. The slide is guided by means of conveyors and has the shape of an oblong rectangle when looking from the top. According to the patent, the slide is made of links connected by spherical connectors in such a way so that it can tilt in relation to the plane of the transport channel as well as perpendicularly to this plane. Such a design does not ensure sufficient tightness of a transport channel when the face or tail of the mass flow is supported, neither does it provide protection against slide movement relative to the conveyor.